Make Your Own Bacon Salt

There is a huge outdoor mall in Columbus that is absolutely amazing. If there is a store that you’re looking for, well look no further. It’s called Easton and you’ll find stores like Nordstrom, The American Girl Store, Crate & Barrel and TONS more. I rarely go there because it’s pretty far from my house….however, it’s near the airport. So, when I had to drop my husband off at the airport, well, I just HAD to stop by Easton.

Two of the stores I visited were Williams-Sonoma and Sur La Table….I love gourmet cooking stores. Wandering around, I found a section with flavored salts. Wow, what a great way to add some flavor to your eggs, dips, and so many other foods. The only thing I didn’t like was the price. The one that caught my eye was Bacon Salt….

YES……BACON SALT

My guys LOVE bacon so I knew they would love bacon salt….but the price. Well, as a DIYer, the “how could I make this myself?” question went through my mind. So, I went home, searched through my pantry/refrigerator and guess what? I made some!

One of the things I love about making things yourself, is you can adjust recipes for your taste. So you could make this be more like salty bacon or bacon salt……it’s the ratio you use. Anyway, the first thing you need to do is prepare your bacon.

I used a 12 oz package of regular, center cut bacon.

Center cut bacon is where the fatty ends are removed so hopefully you have a higher percentage of meat in your bacon. Also, regular cut bacon (versus thick cut) will create a crispier bacon which is easier to crush.

So, let’s cook our bacon. Preheat your oven to 350 Degrees F. Line a pan with foil and place a cooling rack on your lined pan. Then, place your bacon strips on top of the cooling rack…they can be touching but NOT OVERLAPPING. Place in your preheated oven.

Cook your bacon in the oven 20-40 minutes until it is very crispy. Now when I say crispy, I mean crispier than you would eat it. You want it very brittle….in fact it could be almost burned around the edges.

Remove your cooked bacon from the oven. Place your cooked oven onto a plate lined with paper towels (2-3 layers) to remove as much of the fat as you can.

Once your bacon has drained and cooled, place it in a food processor fitted with a large blade and chop. Then measure your chopped bacon and gather the remaining of your ingredients.

1 Cup cooked, chopped bacon*

1.5 Cup kosher salt*

2 tsp ground black pepper (preferably freshly ground)

1/2 tsp ground chipotle or cayenne pepper

*You want a ratio of 1 part bacon to 1.5 parts salt. Since the amount of fat in each package of bacon varies greatly, this is why you need to measure your bacon. Then adjust the amount of salt accordingly.

The residual fat on your bacon will cause it to clump a bit …..so mixing your ingredients by hand is a bit tricky. I find it works best to place all your ingredients into your food processor. Pulse a few times to mix thoroughly.

Doesn’t this bacon salt look delicious? I wish you could smell it. MMMMMMM.

Store your bacon salt in jars with tight fitting lids. I’m using 4 oz. canning jars. Also, it is probably best to store this salt in your refrigerator.

Do you have a bacon love on your gift giving list? Whip up some Bacon Jam along with this bacon salt for a savory treat that they’re sure to love.